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U.S. News & World Report released its list of the best universities worldwide for 2026-2027, and several South Carolina schools made the ranking, placing higher than you might expect.
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The American media company, best known for its consumer rankings and data journalism, looked at higher education institutions across more than 100 countries, ranking them based on 13 indicators that measure their academic research performance and their global and regional reputations.
Their goal? To give future students greater insight into higher education options outside their home country and allow them to compare key aspects of different schools. While a school’s ranking is meant to showcase its achievements, U.S. News emphasized that it should only be one consideration, not the lone determinant, in deciding where a student applies.
In the report, U.S. News listed 2,250 universities they say are the world’s best. The Best Global Universities rankings are a variation of their national Best Colleges rankings, which were first published more than 40 years ago. The U.S. has 275 universities that ranked in the top 2,250, following China with the highest number of ranked universities.
Here’s where the SC schools that made the ranking placed and why:
SC universities global ranking
There wasn’t an SC school that cracked the top 100, but a couple of the Palmetto State’s universities placed in the top quartile worldwide.
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina ranked #391 in the Best Global Universities ranking. The ranking might sound low, but USC beat thousands of other universities across the world and placed in the top 18% of all institutions evaluated, making it a top-tier research powerhouse.
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USC’s best subjects include Economics and Business (#170), Mathematics (#145), Social Sciences and Public Health (#125) and Public, Environmental and Occupational Health (#160).
Medical University of South Carolina
The Medical University of South Carolina ranked #520 worldwide out of 2,250 institutions. Its best subjects include:
- Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems – No. 76 globally; No. 25 in the U.S.
- Surgery – No. 127 globally; No. 48 in the U.S.
- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging – No. 168 globally; No. 41 in the U.S.
- Clinical Medicine – No. 191 globally; No. 59 in the U.S.
“Being named among the best global universities reflects the work happening every day across MUSC,” said John V. Marymont, M.D., MBA, executive vice president for Academic Affairs and provost at MUSC, in a press release. “It speaks to how our faculty and researchers are pushing discovery forward while preparing the next generation of clinicians, healthcare leaders and scientists to strengthen the healthcare workforce and improve health in South Carolina and beyond.”
Clemson University
Clemson University is the third SC school to make the global ranking and is placed at #615. Its best subjects include Agricultural Sciences (#207), Civil Engineering (#162), Environment/Ecology (#320) and Psychiatry/Psychology (#338).
Top 10 global universities
The U.S. has six schools ranked in the top 10. Here is the list of schools:
- #1. Harvard University
- #2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- #3. Stanford University
- #4. University of Oxford – United Kingdom
- #5. University of Cambridge – United Kingdom
- #6. Tsinghua University – China
- #7. University of California – Berkeley
- #8. Yale University
- #9. University College London – United Kingdom
- #10. Columbia University
How were rankings determined?
The world’s best universities were ranked by a calculation U.S. News developed, using a multivariable methodology and weights. They used 13 indicators to measure a school’s global research performance. Here are the indicators:
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- Global research reputation: 12.5% weight
- Regional research reputation: 12.5% weight
- Publications: 10% weight
- Books: 2.5% weight
- Conferences: 2.5% weight
- Normalized citation impact: 10% weight
- Total citations: 7.5% weight
- Number of publications that are among the 10% most cited: 12.5% weight
- Percentage of total publications that are among the 10% most cited: 10% weight
- International collaboration – relative to country: 5% weight
- International collaboration: 5% weight
- Number of highly cited papers that are among the top 1% most cited in their respective field: 5% weight
- Percentage of total publications that are among the top 1% most highly cited papers: 5% weight